Bumble and Jumbo's Great Pancake Escape

Untitled Part 1

"Is it ready yet?"

"Almost."

"Now? Is it ready now?"

"Shush, you.  The cheese is still melting"

Bumble leaned carefully forward, eyes level with the skillet containing his newest creation. Satisfied the flip maneuver had been executed perfectly and the pancake had survived thus far, he reduced the flame on the oil stove slightly and prepared a spoon of the special ingredient.

"It smells weird!"

"Shut up, Kit, I'm trying to focus!"

When the moment was right he thrust the spatula forward and lifted the pancake from the pan, transferring it to a paper plate in one swift motion.

"There," he said with a confident nod and spun around to set the plate on the table in front of his sister. 

Kit gawked in horror at the latest pancake monstrosity laid before her, especially questioning the orange cubes protruding ominously from its surface. As the Ultimate Taster, It was her duty to try all of Ultimate Chef Bumble's experimental pancakes and give the all-important feedback a young culinary mastermind requires. 

"Cheese?"Kit pouted.

"I call it Bumble's Famous Cheddarcake Spectacular! "

"You always put something weird in it. Can't you just make them normal?"

"I'm a chef," Bumble snorted. "And as a chef, I must try each and every possible combination of ingredients to create the ultimate pancake." He grinned and gave the plate a little nudge towards his sister with spiral notebook in hand. 

"Now, Ultimate Taster, It's time to judge."

Reluctantly, Kit cut a small triangle from the pancake and brought the fork to her mouth. Bumble leaned forward in anticipation. 

"Blech!" she said spitting profusely onto the plate. She shoved the pancake away and dramatically scrubbed at her tongue with a paper napkin.

"Dammit Kit take this seriously," Bumble said. "We're doing this for science!"

"I think your science is frying my taste buds," Kit replied. 

"Just answer the survey. Question one, how's it taste?"

"Blech!"

"Rating one to five?"

"Zero!"

"There's no way it's that bad!" Bumble said reaching for the pancake and tearing off a piece for himself. Kit watched as her older brother popped it in his mouth, chewed for a moment, flinched, and finally, skipped to the bottom of the survey sheet.  

"Tuesday's experiment number six, cheddar-horseradish, verdict, in summary,  is a complete fail." he said. "In fact, I'm crossing horseradish off the list for secret ingredients entirely. It's a nonstarter."

"Can I go now?"

"Christ Jesus, what is that smell?" said Victor panting as he threw open the kitchen door from the back of the house. He slumped down into a dining chair drenched in sweat, his face burnt from an afternoon working in the sun.

"Sorry Victor," said Bumble.

"Daddy," Kit whined, "Bumble's making me eat pancakes again."

"For fucks sake Eugene, get that shit outa' here," Victor said. "And would it kill ya' to open a fucking window?"

"Sorry Victor, I'll clean it up."

Victor was in his late 50s and for various reasons had been in and out of their mother's home for the last five years. To Kit, who was three years younger than Bumble and only seven when their mother had first brought the man home, Victor had always been Daddy. To Bumble, he had always been Victor, and Bumble in turn had always been Eugene, and neither he nor his not-quite-stepfather had much problem with that. 

"Are we done here? " Kit whined throwing up her hands in an exaggerated motion. 

"For now, I guess," said Bumble. He took off his apron and removed both the plate and the Cheddarcake Spectacular from the table, along with a shortstack of other failed experiments of the day. Kit  slid open the glass door to the back yard and left with Bumble trailing behind. 

It was hot. Summers were always hot in Abilene and exceptionally so this year, but given the lack of electricity for air conditioning. Bumble preferred to spend his days outside. It was preferable to staying in with Mom and Victor anyway. He stepped out on to the wooden deck, and down a set of stairs to where the garbage cans sat on the side of the house. He opened the can and tossed the failed experiments on top.

"They were worth a shot," Bumble sighed and closed the can. 

"Shot and died!" Kit yelled, riding down the driveway to her evening job on her pink Barbie bicycle. 

Bumble and Sammy Ellison had pulled that bike from the Jungle on the evening before Kit's birthday, missing a seat but otherwise perfect for riding. Sammy had stayed up past curfew looking for a suitable cushion, finally deciding on a headrest from one of the junkyard cars. Sammy was always good like that. She too was probably already in the Jungle by now. 

Their house was a double-wide and sat on a lot which overlooked a vast terrain of abandoned cars and electrical machines which seemed to go on forever. The Jungle as the children called it was a source of infinite wealth, for those who knew how to look for it. The work was most suitable for the children, as the Church's sentry drones weren't inclined to shoot minors usually. 

He didn't much care for the guys. Most of them were jerks anyway. He could at least talk with Sammy. Not in the typical sense, but in her own sort of special Sammy way. She wasn't big on words, though neither was he really, and so that worked out. He crossed the scarred field to the fence and stuck his shoes between the links. In seconds he was over and among the stacks of junkyard cars. The sun was blisteringly hot and made waves over the chalky ground. Gravel crunched under his sneakers and light reflected off metal in some places blinding Bumble as he walked deeper into the yard.

As Bumble walked through the junkyard he noticed how quiet it was. Not only was Sammy not here, but neither were the guys. He started back to the fence when something caught his eye. Something pink was on the ground near the fence. He looked around but sees nobody there. As he comes closer he sees that it's a skateboard. Again, he looked around but there was no one there. He supposes Kit might ride it. He picks up the skateboard, and drops it over the fence. He climbs back over into his yard.

Bumble laid the skateboard on the deck and started inside the house, when he noticed the garbage can lid was on the ground. He looked inside and sees that the pancake experiments are gone.

"Yo," said a high voice from behind.

Bumble turned around. In front of him was a girl with a half-eaten pancake in her hand. One with little orange cubes protruding from it.

"That's my board," the girl said.

"That's my pancake," said Bumble.